Whilst most Bournemouth residents will be finishing work for the festive season this week, a number of council services will still be operating throughout the Christmas and New Year period ensuring the town continues to run smoothly.
Staff in adult and children’s social care, seafront services, highways maintenance, refuse and recycling and many others will still be providing their usual support during some or all of the Christmas and New Year bank holiday weekends.
All other services will be running as normal between Christmas and New Year.
Bournemouth Council Leader, Councillor John Beesley, said: “Whilst many people will be taking a break and enjoying the festive period, it is easy to forget there are many council staff who will be on duty delivering vital services during Christmas and the New Year. I am very grateful to all of them. From ensuring vulnerable people are cared for to safeguarding the highway and even emptying our bins, for many council teams it is business as usual.”
Other examples of staff working or officially on-call include:
- Street Cleansing teams working every day including Christmas Day morning.
- Bereavement Services staff and grave diggers on call every day except Christmas Day to cover any Jewish or Muslim burials. A worker will also be at Bournemouth Crematorium each day so that the Books of Remembrance can be available for viewing and facilities available for families to leave floral tributes over the holiday period.
- An Environmental Health Officer will be on standby to respond as necessary to any emergency issues, such as a food poisoning outbreak affecting many individuals, or a death due to infringement of health and safety provisions.
- Strategic Housing, in partnership with Street Services, operates a ‘Winter Watch’ service ensuring that no-one has to sleep rough, out in the cold, over the Christmas and winter period. Everyone who needs it is offered warm and safe accommodation providing hot food and access to further support services if required.
- Staff at residential care facilities.
- Gritting teams will be out ensuring our roads are safe.
- Housing Landlord Central Control is manned 24/7 to take emergency repair and Bournemouth Careline calls (24 hour telecare call service for approximately 3,000 vulnerable residents who need help in an emergency or need assistance).
